Courtside View: Still waiting ...

Sunday

Jul 29, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 29, 2007 at 4:32 PM

For a full month, the relatively few and once very proud who scour the wires for Celtics news have been waiting for "the other shoe to drop." If history is any indication, they may be waiting a while longer. In fact, they may never get the right cross to go with the left hook of the draft-night deal for seven-time All-Star Ray Allen.

Scott Souza/Daily News staff

For a full month, the relatively few and once very proud who scour the wires for Celtics news have been waiting for "the other shoe to drop."

If history is any indication, they may be waiting a while longer. In fact, they may never get the right cross to go with the left hook of the draft-night deal for seven-time All-Star Ray Allen.

While many bristled at that deal for giving up young pieces (Delonte West and a No. 5 overall pick that would likely have been Chinese center Yi Jianlian), some gave it a qualified thumbs-up. As long as Celtics executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge made a second big move to make the team a legitimate Eastern Conference contender this season, they could accept bringing in a 31-year-old scoring star coming off ankle surgery.

A month later, the heartwarming story of undrafted free agent Brandon Wallace signing a partially guaranteed deal on a media snack table in Las Vegas doesn't seem to cut it.

As free agents - most of whom would hardly be considered the answer anyway - signed their eight-figure deals elsewhere, Ainge and the Celtics have been relatively quiet. It doesn't mean they've been complacent, it just means they haven't been able to put together a deal that makes them appreciably better without taking on loads of punishing salary for years to come.

It's easy to make a bad deal in the NBA. Just ask Isiah Thomas in New York. But, as Ainge and other personnel folks continually note, it's very hard to make a good deal without adding huge contracts or giving away young talent. That is likely why Ainge seemed particularly proud on draft night, when he was able to get Allen (albeit at nearly $18 million per year over three more years) for the package of players sent away in the deal.

The terribly uneven play of the potential draftees - Jianlian, Corey Brewer (Timberwolves) and Jeff Green (Sonics) - in Las Vegas compared to what is expected of Allen (who averaged 26.4 points per game last season) seemed to reassure many who initially questioned the move.

But making another big splash won't be easy. Ainge has set himself up for scrutiny by insisting to everyone that he is not done working toward other deals this summer. There are also those who do him few favors with ongoing winks and nods about the lingering possibility of a Kevin Garnett megadeal after all.

When asked on draft night if there were serious discussions of any other trades leading up to the Allen swap, Ainge replied that the talks with Seattle were the only serious ones because that is the only trade that wound up happening. Though it sounds dismissive, the point is that there are always talks in the NBA and typically they never go anywhere.

With Ainge unwilling to comment on ongoing trade talks, a vacuum of speculation remains. You are then left to either hash out every rumor that gets posted on a message board, or spend hours working three-team deals on a salary cap trade checker until you find one that works, then act incredulous about why NBA executives could be oblivious to something so obvious.

Or you can accept that a team pushing the luxury tax threshold that has already made a significant upgrade this summer will have a very hard time making another one, particularly as a contract extension looms for its brightest young talent in Al Jefferson. It could come out of the blue on a hazy August day, or as recent history has shown (see: Allen Iverson, Carlos Boozer last summer) it may be a lot of talk that never adds up to anything at all.

Just remember that there's a long way to go to be holding your breath until September.

***

Anyone who has attended a Celtics game in recent years knows there's a moment each night when you can't help but be inspired.

The "Heroes Among Us" program celebrates ordinary people who go to extraordinary lengths in their efforts and time commitments. In doing so, they help people in a way that seldom makes the evening news or the next day's print edition.

Wednesday afternoon, the Celtics will honor the 43 "Heroes Among Us" from last season with a State House ceremony. Ryan Gomes will be the keynote speaker at the event, which is also expected to include Celtics president Rich Gotham, State Auditor Joseph DeNucci, State Treasurer Timothy Cahill and Fox Sports Net New England General Manager David Woodman. ...

Good luck to all the riders in the Pan-Mass Challenge (PMC) next weekend. The annual cycling marathon, which has exploded in popularity and participation in recent years, raises money for the Jimmy Fund and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute each year through sponsorships of the riders, who peddle more than a hundred miles across the state.

Among the participants in this year's event is Celtics director of public relations Heather Walker, who is riding in memory of her father, Roger Michalowski, who lost his battle with leukemia when she was 17 years old.

Those wishing to sponsor Walker, or any other rider in this year's PMC, can do so at pmc.org.

(Scott Souza is a Daily News staff writer. He can be reached at 781-398-8006 or ssouza@cnc.com.)

Market Place

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
MetroWest Daily News, Framingham, MA ~ 33 New York Ave., Framingham, MA 01701 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service